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| From | MKROPP@comcast.net |
| Subject | Re: Sad... |
| Date | Tue, 06 Jun 2006 17:32:27 +0000 |
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very sad.
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "bob" <segarini@rogers.com>
>
> 'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston Dies at 59
>
> Tuesday , June 06, 2006
>
> By Roger Friedman
>
>
>
> Billy Preston |
>
> 'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston Dies at 59
>
> The great singer-songwriter and performer Billy Preston, the real "Fifth
> Beatle," has died after a long illness as a result of malignant hypertension
> that resulted in kidney failure and other complications.
>
> As a result of a medical insult, he'd been in a deep coma since last
> November 21, but was still struggling to recover. He died at Shea Scottsdale
> Hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he'd lived for the last couple of years.
>
> Billy was called the Fifth Beatle because he played keyboards on "Let It
> Be," "The White Album" and "Abbey Road." He also played on the Rolling Stones'
> hit song "Miss You," and often played with Eric Clapton. He also did the organ
> work on Sly & the Family Stone's greatest hits.
>
> Preston's own hits include "Nothing From Nothing," "Will It Go Round in
> Circles" and "You Are So Beautiful," which Joe Cocker turned into an
> international hit.
>
> Preston was actually mentored by Ray Charles, and acts like Little Richard
> (see below), Mahalia Jackson and James Cleveland had a huge impact on him at a
> young age.
>
> In the early '60s, Billy went to Europe with Little Richard who was
> playing in Hamburg. The Beatles were the opening act, and as the story goes, he
> was the one who made sure they got fed.
>
> His friendship with them lasted through the 1960s and he was the first act
> signed to Apple Records, thanks to George Harrison. The resulting album is
> called "That's the Way God Planned It."
>
> In 1971, Preston played in "The Concert for Bangladesh." Last year, in one
> of his final appearances, he performed at a reunion in Los Angeles for the
> release of the Bangladesh DVD with Ringo Starr and Harrison's son Dhani on
> guitar.
>
> More recently, Billy can be heard on the latest albums by Neil Diamond and
> Red Hot Chili Peppers. He's also featured on the Starbucks soul album "Believe
> to My Soul," featuring Mavis Staples and Ann Peebles.
>
> I had the good fortune to know Billy the last few years, and saw him
> perform — as chronicled in this column — last August at the Mohegan Sun Casino
> in Connecticut and last October at the Atlantis in the Bahamas.
>
> He was one of those spectacular performers who put everything into his
> show, even though he had no working kidneys by then and was receiving dialysis.
> He was a warm, wonderful human being with a mile-wide smile. He was also a
> genius musician, the likes of whom we will not see again.
>
> Rest in peace, Billy. You deserve it.
>
>
>
>
>
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